Tag Archives: Campus Ministry

There are a ton of words and phrases that we use to describe our view and vision of what a disciple is and what discipleship means. Even among our own ministry we have used a plethora of different words to demonstrate how we talk about being a disciple or discipling others. Paul says in Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Being a disciple is someone who has submitted to Jesus and seeks to become like Him. Discipleship is imitating a mentor (disciple) who imitates Jesus.

If we were to take a look at discipleship at the time of Jesus we would see his talmidim (disciples) following him everywhere, imitating his every word and his every action. The desire of a talmid (disciple) was to know what the rabbi knew, in order to do what the rabbi did, in order to be just like their rabbi in his walk with God. Perhaps this gives new meaning to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus says to his talmidim, “go do the same things that we have been doing the last three years. Just as I taught you, as we have lived life along side of each other, go teach others. Walk along side of them, live life with them, continue to imitate me so that in imitating you, they will be imitating me.”

Submit to Jesus and become like him and we can do this by imitating a mentor (disciple) who imitates Jesus.

I’ve heard it said from my friend and coworker, Marty Solomon, “we are human beings, no human doings.” The very idea of this comes from the first chapter of Genesis ”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and wall the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

Not only were we created in the image of God himself, but before Adam had a chance to do anything or produce anything, God says it was very good. In our day, good is just kind of meh, it’s not great, just okay. In the text good is great but very good is greater than great! And it is this way not based on anything else other than who we are and whose we are. It’s not about what we do, it never has been.

After being in Egypt for 400 years this was the first message Moses delivered to Israel. They are a rescued nation of slaves who have been making bricks for 400 years They have been told that their entire value and worth is wrapped up in what they are able to produce. This God comes and the first story He tells them is a story is an invitation to take a break — a Sabbath — and rest.

He insists that creation — themselves in particular — is good.He invites them to stop working and trust that they are loved, valued and accepted just because of who they ARE — not for what they DO. God invites the ancient Israelites to see the world through a new set of lenses. He invites them to believe that He sees them as GOOD — made in the image of the Creator. He tells them to quit trying to find their value in what they are able to do and produce. But instead, they should stop working and REST.

He tells them, over and over again, that the story is good.And He invites them to trust the story. (Borrowed from Marty’s Blog)

A message we need to hear over and over again, it’s not about what we do it’s about who we are. Made in God’s image, called to a weekly rest from normal daily activity to remember this message. Our jobs, our college or high school classes do not give us our identity. Our identity is found in the image of God, not because of what we do but because we are created. We rest as a way to remember and reflect on God’s love for us, that it is dependent on nothing, simply because we exist by his hand. Is your identity found in what you do or who you are?

Why give? Today we have chosen to give back to campus ministry. The reason we give is because we want to be an encouragement to our friends and co-workers in Impact. Obviously we love campus ministry because that’s what we do but we also want to be a support to others who have our same passion for the colleges and universities in our country. That is why we chose to participate in #GivingTuesday. Wether it’s your church, another non-profit organization I would encourage you to join us in giving today. To donate to our #GivingTuesday campaign, follow this this link.

Campus ministry is a unique experience that often takes different forms and shapes because of the vast differences in the campus cultures even in the same city. One group can be made up of students who grew up in the church with a ton of preconceived ideas about God while others are a fresh slate ready to take it all in for the first time. This week in my personal study I came across an excerpt in the book “Walking In the Dust of Rabbi Jesus” by Lois Tverberg, talking about Job and the dialog that takes place between him and his three friends Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar as to why Job is suffering. There assumption is that Job must be suffering because of his own sins. Tverberg has this insight as to why the three friends didn’t understand Job’s suffering or Job’s frustration at God.

“Job’s friends were making the mistake that Western Christians do today when we don’t have a Hebraic understanding of the “knowledge of God”—da’at Elohim. A Westerner opens the Bible and wants to prove God’s existence and construct a theology to explain God’s nature. We would call that “knowledge of God.” But in Hebrew, to “know” someone was to be familiar with him through experience and relationship, as a wife knows her husband.”

“While Job’s friends had a theoretical knowledge of God, Job knew God in this latter, Hebraic sense of the word. Christian philosopher Peter Kreeft writes:Job sticks to God, retains intimacy, passion and care, while the three friends are satisfied with correctness of words, “dead orthodoxy.” Job’s words do not accurately reflect God as Job’s friends’ do, but Job himself is in true relationship with God, as the three friends are not: a relationship of heart and soul, life-or-death passion…. Job stays married to God and throws dishes at him; the three friends have a polite non-marriage, with separate bedrooms and separate vacations.”

I immediately thought this to be the biggest task we have with students. To lead them in such away that they can encounter God on such a personal level that there is no doubt about the intimate relationship with God. This is what we so often miss in reading Scripture… we miss or don’t really understand the personal interaction people of the Bible had with God. As a result it becomes things we know about God but the key to authentic discipleship is to understand the true knowledge of God comes through the experience of the relationship with God.

Rich Mullins was one of my favorite song writers. Rich had a way of telling a story and painting a picture of the everyday struggle to be a real talmid (disciple) of Jesus in a modern world. His words and music resonate with me still because his joy, compassion, brokenness and unblinking honesty all served his greatest desire, pointing people toward God.

In our campus ministry work, our greatest desire is to be talmidim (disciples) of Jesus. This weeks discussion at Indiana U. of South Bend centered on the last segments of Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5:38-48 (ESV) 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Wether it’s on campus, at a job, in the public schools or some other corner of the society we live in, as Christians we often find ourselves tempted to be defensive when we are challenged or attacked because we hold the Bible to be truth. How many times do we see in some aspect of social media vicious words spoken… on both sides? These passages in Matthew are the teachings Jesus used to train his talmidim. His words are true for us as well. People outside of Christ do not hold the Bible to be truth. Using it to hit them over the heads does nothing because we are not on equal footing. As talmidim, we are called to be different… uncommon… why? because our God is different! Those that hate us because of Jesus may still hate us, but if we act any other way than the way Jesus teaches in the sermon on the mount, we lose our credibility and our witness and we sure aren’t pointing people towards Jesus. Those we are retaliating against will never see anything in Christians other than hate if we act the same as everyone else. These words of Jesus apply to all of us who aspire to be one of His talmidim. Anyone remember the trendy Christian thing “WWJD” (what would Jesus do)? We know what he would do and have us do… love those who oppose and hate us, pray for them, forgive them. It’s not a level playing field, how can we expect them to act any different if they don’t believe? Being a talmid of Jesus I know the truth and I need to have His words be reflected in my daily life. If I don’t, how can I be an arrow pointing to heaven?

Here we are finishing the second week of September and already running strong on the campuses in South Bend, Indiana. With discipleship being such a strong part of our ministry at Impact, I found myself all summer being drawn to the Jesus’ words throughout the gospels, specifically beginning with the sermon on the mount. I’m drawn to His words because they are the only recorded teaching moments with His talmidim (tahl-me-DEEM, Hebrew word meaning disciples or students of a rabbi).

As I pursue being a talmid (disciple) of Jesus I see the need to rethink what it meant to follow a rabbi. In our western thought we look at imitation, mimicking, and plagiarism as negative things but as I try to understand more of Jesus and his first followers, I realize that imitation was exactly what a talmid would try to do. They wanted to be like their rabbi in every aspect, trying to take on all of the his characteristics, the way he thought, the way he taught. They would be with him constantly because they didn’t want to miss one thing the teacher would say. The 12 disciples would have done the same with Jesus.

This is why I marvel at the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:2-12 (ESV) 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Here was the promised Messiah, who many thought would come and save them from Roman oppression and this is His message. Not one of vengeance but one of mercy, forgiveness, peace, humility, even in the face of persecution. This is the message he chooses to give to his talmidim. Why? because God is a god of love and forgiveness. Because He is different, we are to be different. The teachings Jesus spoke to His 12 talmidim is the same message for those of us who choose to follow Him now. This is the same message we need to model and instill in the lives of college students. Pursue, model, and teach Christ on the college campus. I can’t think of a better place to start with young students than the very things Jesus taught to His own talmidim!

Here are 12 things we learned on our support raising journey with Impact Campus Ministries.

-1 Let God have control. This is a must, if he has called you to a ministry that requires you to raise your own support, he will get you there. It still took our effort and hard work but we had to be attentive to the Holy Spirit and allow God room to work.

-2 Learn to tell your story. You can have all the facts and figures you want to have about why this is an awesome ministry to support but if you don’t make it personal, people won’t connect. Tell your story and your passion for ministry.

-3 Get over yourself. This was hard for us because we just simply were raised where you didn’t ask people for things. As if that wasn’t difficult enough to get over, I am an introvert and would rather have a had tooth pulled than talk to people on the phone in the beginning. Get over it, the more you talk to people the easier it gets.

-4 Learn humility. Not because we were asking people for support but because we are relying on God to provide and had to recognize the He is God, not us.

-5 Don’t look for an easy button. We all want to get there quick and the temptation is to look for the fastest means to the financial goal, the big supporters. The bottom line is that we are looking for partners in ministry, people who will support us and pray for us and who we lift up in constant prayer. The broader the base, the broader the prayer support. By the way, just so you know… there is no easy button!

-6 Listen to God and let the Holy Spirit lead. I can’t say this enough, there were so many times that I held off sending a letter because I felt the time wasn’t right or I stopped to make a phone call or send an email because I just had the sense that it was the right thing to do. We had several instances where our ministry information arrived at a time where a friend was looking for another ministry to support.

-7 Be open and proud about support raising. God called us to this ministry and we learned to be proud and passionate about it, even the support raising. It is not a shameful thing to support raise and certainly not a taboo subject. We have supporters who have decided to partner with us simply because we started a conversation. One of our faithful supporters noticed what we were doing because I asked him to like our Impact Facebook page in a online contest that the staff was having.

-8 Pray… a lot! We couldn’t do this enough. Support raising has been the most challenging thing we have ever done, spiritually, physically and emotionally. Our prayer life has increased at least 10 fold because we need the constant connection with our Father.

-9 You have to ask! There is no other way, you have to be able to ask the question, “Will you support our ministry?” Say it over and over to a friend, a spouse, or an accountability partner but there is no way around it. When we became bold enough to make the ask, we started getting better results.

-10 Find some accountability. I started off with an accountability partner then transitioned to an everyday accountability call. I can’t tell you how valuable it is to have someone who will bust your chops for not doing what you said you were going to do. Were it not for the accountability, I would have been much less productive.

-11 It’s not who you think… “They said no, they must not like us…” It simply isn’t about you or who you think will partner with the ministry. It is about who God has called to do His work in this way. Allow people a chance to say yes or no and trust that He will provide for what He has called you to. You will simply be astounded at what God will do when you give up control.

-12 Enjoy the journey! We have learned so much and grown so much in the last two years raising support. The simple fact is you can learn to enjoy it! Talking about our ministry and what God is doing through it always energizes us.

Okay, it’s official, I am now a full time campus minister with Impact Campus Ministries! It has been a long road of support raising, coupled with limited time on campus but now we are ready to hit it full force.

Thank you to all of our faithful supporters from those of you who have been with us from the beginning to those of you who have faithfully answered the call to help us close out the final push campaign. We would not have made it without the prayers and support of everyone! God has truly been faithful and it is to His glory that he has brought us to a place we once thought impossible. We ask for continued prayers as we plan and transition to full time work on the campuses in South Bend, IN. While support raising is never truly done, it now takes a back seat to our work with student on campus. We are truly blessed!

Seeds can take an incredibly long time to grow. Even when all of the conditions are perfect; good soil, sunlight, warmth, and moisture, seeds won’t grow into plants overnight. Working with college students often takes the same amount of patience. Growth begins under the surface where it isn’t immediately seen.

When we pursue, model, and teach Christ in community on the American campus we are planting seeds. As we model what the pursuit of Christ looks like we begin to teach and equip students to pursue, model and teach in the same way, encouraging them to plane seeds even in the youthfulness of their own spiritual growth.

The curious thing about planting is that sometimes we sow seeds and don’t realize it. When we make a lifestyle of pursuing and modeling Christ, we have the opportunity to allow our actions to speak about who we are. New friendships may pop up in the unlikeliest of places apart from church and ministry. Those are the times when you know God has brought people into your path for a reason.

Today marks day two of our final push campaign to be fully funded. Leading up to the kickoff and the mailing of letters yesterday, I was a little bit antsy so I took May 1st as a personal retreat day or a PRD. This is actually a requirement once per month of all Impact staff and I opted to take my PRD on May 1st to rest from several ministry events and to pray in preparation for the May 2nd mailing. During my morning run on Wednesday I had the opportunity to reflect on how far God has brought us. You see, support raising is about the journey and the partnership with brother’s and sister’s in Christ. Sure, we have to have support or we don’t have a ministry, let alone eat but it is so much more than simply a financial thing.

I remember when I left my factory job in 2011 to begin full time support raising. At the time I think we were at a mere 12 percent. We had enough money stockpiled for a few months but that was it. We lived as simply as we could and had to trust in God’s provision. I think that was the hardest day of my faith when I walked out at the end of my last shift. Now we are on the cusp of being fully funded! So close I can almost taste it yet far enough that Jill and I haven’t been able to fully minister on campus. Looking at the difference of who I was then compared to who I am now and I was simply stunned. When we are in the midst of the journey, we don’t always see the power of God’s transforming work. There is definitely more to be done on my spiritual journey but each day that passes in our final push campaign is a day that I eagerly look to see what God is going to do, trusting that he has things well in hand.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11